Continued: Bungle in the Jungle: Vikings aren't competitive in loss to Bengals

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton passed for 366 yards and four touchdowns and routinely picked on beleaguered cornerback Chris Cook, who had perhaps the worst performance of his disappointing career.

Cook gave up two touchdown catches to A.J. Green, including a 2-yarder in the third quarter in which Cook also drew a pass interference penalty.

Frazier noted that injuries have left his team vulnerable at key spots, including the secondary, but every team deals with injuries at this point in the season. Peterson refused to concede the fact that his team doesn’t match up with the Bengals.

“You’re entitled to what you think and what you feel,” he said. “The only thing that matters is the core, and that’s the guys in this locker room. Not to take anything away from their performance. I tip my hat to Cincinnati. But I feel like we are definitely a better team than we displayed today. It’s as simple as that. I know people will say, ‘Well, how come you didn’t show it?’ For whatever reason we just didn’t play good.”